MediaMaker Fellows Program

Call for entries: Apply to be a 2013 BAVC MediaMaker Fellow

Early application deadline: Wednesday, January 23, 5:00pm
No entry fee for BAVC Producer-level Members; $40 entry fee for all others. (Membership acquisition/renewal/upgrade possible at time of application.)

Final application deadline: Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 5:00pm
Still no entry fee for BAVC Producer-level Members; $75 entry fee for all others. (Membership acquisition/renewal/upgrade possible at time of application.)

2013 Fellows announced: Monday, February 13, 2012

Welcome reception: Friday, March 1, 2013, 5:30 - 7:30pm

Workshops, labs, and other in-kind support: March - December, 2013

“I was thrilled to be a 2011 MediaMaker Fellow.
it has meant exposure to cutting edge technologies,
collaboration with this amazing group of filmmakers,
and it forced me to make space in my life
to think about innovation and how I could make this work.”

- Samantha Grant, “A Fragile Trust”
2011 BAVC MediaMaker Fellow

About the Program

Since 1991, BAVC's MediaMaker Awards have provided in-kind training and post-production grants for independent artists with a particular focus on supporting emerging artists and underserved communities. The Awards were designed to give independent artists direct access to the latest digital media technologies and prepare them for broadcast on public television with focused digital and multiplatform strategies for community engagement. BAVC offers six in-kind awards annually to be used for a combination of post-production services, facilities access, and training. We are extremely proud of our past MediaMaker award winners and are honored to have played a role in their development, completion, broadcast, and distribution.

The 2012 BAVC MediaMaker Fellows program is designed to engage local artists in a year-long series of opportunities that will support project development through professional mentorship in multiplatform and transmedia storytelling through emerging technologies, strategic social media, marketing, and fundraising. The BAVC MediaMaker Fellows program will build an engaged local community of creative media artists from diverse fields, increase their capacity for diverse and lasting impact, and inspire new partnerships to support future work.

BAVC MediaMaker Fellows:

Participate in New Media Workshops throughout the year, designed to provide special access to experts in emerging technologies and multiplatform documentary storytelling.

Participate in MediaMaker Fellows Labs to screen works-in-progress and receive feedback from fellow MediaMakers and invited industry experts on films and digital projects.

Receive numerous exposure opportunities including serving as a guest blogger for the BAVC web site and newsletter, highlighting your project, your creative process, screenings, events, and community engagement plans.

Are eligible for assistance from BAVC-trained media interns who will assist MediaMaker fellows in creating a short video documentary about the MediaMaker’s project to be used in presentations, funding proposals, and project promotion. (For samples of these see http://bavc.org/stream.)

Be included in the MediaMaker Showcase – a public event for the BAVC MediaMaker Fellows to pitch their projects to local funders, broadcasters, and community organizations.

Become a part of BAVC’s creative program alumni network, with access to numerous talented and seasoned creators.

Receive a small cash stipend to support your participation and commitment to meeting program deliverables.

Program Elibility & Criteria

Any Bay Area BAVC member at the Producers Bundle level and above working on a noncommercial project is eligible for the MediaMaker Fellows program. (Note that we have a low-income membership option.) For a fee, non-members may apply; BAVC members will receive preference in consideration for the fellowship. BAVC takes special interest in artists who are working on projects about community and social justice issues, but we encourage projects of any genre or subject matter to apply. The MediaMaker Fellows program is particularly interested in supporting a diverse cross-section of artists with multi-disciplinary backgrounds. The proposed project must have some existing produced content, and must have a funding commitment from at least one additional source (besides BAVC). The project must also have a strong digital media component, but it need not be a traditional documentary or narrative film. Projects can be web-based, linear, interactive, performance, installation or a hybrid of these.

Propose a compelling, high-quality, noncommercial project to develop over the course of the year. Project must be digital media or centrally contain digital media components.

Have demonstrated an expertise in one or more creative disciplines.

Have demonstrated an ability to conceive, develop, and implement a high-quality creative project – at least one public performance, exhibition, or screening of an original work.

Be able to write effectively about their creative process and vision for their project.

Be willing to be an active participant in monthly labs and quarterly workshops, an annual exhibition, showcase, and ongoing online forum.